Break Like Glass
by mollycoddle
Summary: The girls need a break. So they leave. ShxSe


I do not own Sailor Moon.

* * *

**Break Like Glass  
**_the relationships you had before me.  
__it's surprisingly easy._

* * *

Usagi cried.

Mamoru found her on his doorstep at three in the morning, soaking wet.

He doesn't know what to do—she won't talk with him—and when he tried to call Rei, Usa violently threw his phone at the wall and cried harder. He got a bad feeling and immediately began guessing on who died or was seriously injured before his fiancé wiped her eyes and said, "We're done."

That sent Mamoru to a bad place until she said, "The Senshi and I."

He made them tea and brought out the cookies Makoto made the day before. "Why are you done?"

"We tried to kill each other." Usagi miserably touched her teacup with a finger and collapsed on his sofa. "And no, not the way we usually do but—I honestly think—I think we really _tried to hurt each other_."

Mamoru choked and exclaimed, "You're kidding." Except he knew she wasn't—ever since high school ended and Ami went to Tokyo University, Mina back to modeling "for a bit," Rei to her temple, and Mako to train under a French-Japanese baker, things had been awful. A perfectly civil conversation turned sour if one of them so much as giggled wrong and they were throwing barbs at each other hidden by pink fluff.

He didn't know why. Maybe they were too close or maybe it was an evil youma but no one was happy and everyone was irritated.

"What are we going to do about it?"

"Nothing," whispered Usagi, sounding more like a girl than a queen. "Nothing."

* * *

**Germany**

Ami likes the way Nefen stays up all night to look at the stars and she adjusts her schedule so that she can study by him on the balcony. "_Guten Morgen_," he jokes, and she smiles softly.

He treats her like a little sister and Ami finds nothing wrong with that. Nefen is kind, and caring, and Ami needs that so badly she wakes up every afternoon reaching her hand out to nothing.

But he's just a little too gentlemanly and while she loves it something in her rebels against it. She hates that little streak in her and no matter how much she tries to crush it, it springs back bigger than ever. She realizes it when he tells her that following everything he says is no way to live and she wants to throw her coffee in his face.

On Christmas he drags a real tree to his apartment. She is quietly interested as he lights real candles and then throws the tree out the window before New Years, along with everyone else.

She's smarter than everyone he knows and he tells her without hesitation. She hates it. She hates the fact that he hardly ever argues with her—because she wants to scream and she hates that too.

Ami never, ever shows him her inner-self and she thinks that's what love is all about when he buys them two plane tickets "back home."

* * *

**South America**

Rei actually burns her tongue on the food and her laugh fills the entire restaurant.

The waiter smiles and tells her nothing about it even spicy. It's a calm traditional dish, really, and she nods as every chain binding her to Usagi breaks.

Her back is always straight, but now her shoulders stop slouching and she immerses herself in the South American culture almost desperately. She begins understanding the language in three months and in five nobody looks at her blankly.

It's in that time she meets Kel, who has curiously light hair. He isn't as affectionate as everybody else she speaks to, and that comforts her in a way she can't explain. Kel talks to her—helping her with the language, showing her the beauty she saw in pictures, making her try different foods that she finds herself adoring. He takes her to dances where she feels like fire and as if she doesn't have a body.

When a guy gets too handsy, he steps in and Rei watches his lightly muscled back straighten and he quietly murmurs Spanish that sounds a little like a lullaby

(But something is missing, and they both realizes it's heat and passion and _interest_ a little too late.)

They sit outside with their drinks, talking about absolutely nothing, and when her fingertips get cold and she laughs hysterically he hands her his scarf.

She's more comfortable with him than with anybody else; when she asks him to come with her, he agrees.

* * *

**North America**

Mako meets him outside a little bakery.

He drives by on an expensive (large) car and there's a girl riding shotgun. She's beautiful, with long, wavy yellow hair. She gets out, kisses a boy on the street, and he never glances back.

He spills her iced tea all over her blouse and she feels like crying because nothing ever goes right. Jason is a little exasperated but buys her a new shirt and a new drink.

When she tells him off for making a comment on her chest size, he raises an eyebrow and when she tells him the cake he's buying isn't fresh, he takes her out to dinner.

Jason treats her like a princess. He opens doors for her, kisses her hand, practices nice manners, pays for lunch, pays for the cinema, says "ladies first"—and Mako wants to rip his sarcastic smile off his face.

He's the closest thing to Prince Charming she can find and she knows he's looking for something in her she doesn't have so it's a fair trade.

She tries teaching him Japanese, but he laughs and says he's not interested. He took Spanish in high school for the required years and forgot everything but _hola_. She leaves him alone. (She hates the fact that, despite his stupidity, he's smarter than her and graduated high school when he was sixteen.)

Jason is impulsive and reckless and he shouts that he loves her in front of the entire airport like in all those movies she enjoys. He boards her plane and she manages to teach him _Ohayo_ before he zonks out.

* * *

**Poland**

Zacharyasz is nice, Mina thinks. He's not too tall, not too short, a little on the lankier side, and has a nice blond ponytail. He's smart too.

All in all, Zach is...great, even. He helps her out with her college homework, speaks conversational English, has a certain sense of humor, and if he was a little irritated by her lack of academic knowledge, he never mentioned it. Though he was, just a little irritated.

He's better than all the boys she ever dated before, so she sticks around in Poland just for him—and the dresses, the peace, the food, the language. Especially the language. It's nothing like Japanese, or English, so she sleeps at night comfortably. (Zach knows Polish, Russian, and Czech along with English and when he meets her, starts on Japanese.)

Zach is there when his mother sneers at her, and when she buys her first black dress, and when she cries for no explainable reason he buys her a heart-shaped necklace.

He takes her to the museums she finds boring, takes her to the ballets, takes her to places she wouldn't have gone by herself.

When he sighs because she fell or forgot something, nothing hurts. (Mina thinks Zach hates it when she's too cheerful because he suspects its fake. She doesn't care.)

But she does like him, and he likes her, and by the time she's on the next plane for Japan, he's right beside her.

* * *

**Japan**

Usagi and Mamoru are startled when Ami and Rei arrive with boys.

They come to baggage claim at the exact same time and there's hugging and laughing and breathless greetings—from Usagi, lots of crying. Nefen and Kel stand back until they're introduced.

Mamoru puffs out his chest before shaking their hands. He tightens his grip both times and his hand is nearly crushed in return both times.

"Kel is staying with me at the temple," said Rei. "Do you need a hotel, Ami?"

Nefen smiled. "Whatever's fine with everyone," he manages; his Japanese is half-mangled.

Ami nodded and checked her watch. "Mako's coming in a few minutes. Mina's arriving tomorrow?"

Rei rubbed her eyes and yawned. Usagi stares, because Rei always tries killing her yawns. "Kel and I should go before I fall asleep. Anyone?"

Ami mentioned toward Nefen. "We'll go. Please apologize to Mako when you see her."

They do—apologize to Mako for staring at her new boyfriend, who picks Usagi up and says, "Ohio" and for Rei and Ami.

* * *

"Japan is so interesting," says Zach. "I see a random kimono and then a hundred suits and then a yukata. And the kanji! How did you ever learn?"

"Easy," says Mina. "I didn't."

Zach offers her a smile to cover up his annoyance and Mina wonders what she thinks of that.

"Anyway," she continues, in Japanese after his request, "we're going to lunch so you can meet my best friends. Usagi—the blond bunhead—isn't going to be there because of her little brother's awards ceremony, but her husband is."

Zach raised an eyebrow. "She's married?"

"Recently, just before we all split up for the year. I told you about that?"

"I don't think so."

Mina doesn't remember either. "Well, Rei went to South America, Mako went to North America, and the rest of us went to Europe. It was a before-we-really-start-our-lives-we-should-do-some thing-we-will-never-get-to-do-again kinda thing." _And we realized we were too dependent and upset and __emotionally-unstable around each other. Which is how we ended up nearly killing one another._

The restaurant they go to is less Westernized than most; Zach thinks its absolutely delightful when they take off their shoes and their waitress wears the more traditional garb and they sit at a low table with no chairs.

Mamoru arrives first and beams at Mina before shaking Zach's hand. Rei breezes in next, walking side-by-side next with a tan stranger with hair longer than Zach's. They aren't touching each other.

Mina hates how she gets curious.

Mako comes in with a cute, tall blond who seems to make her smile—a slightly edgy smile. Ami is right behind them, and right behind her is the man who opened her door. His hair is brown, like Mako's, and he's talking about someone named Sagittarius.

They all sit down awkwardly and then there's silence.

Rei, who remembers being nearly electrified, clears her throat. "Hi, guys. This is Kel, and Kel these are my friends: Makoto, Minako. And of course you remember Ami and Mamoru." She smiles and its completely fake. "My name is Rei, gentlemen."

Jason grins. "Ohio, Rei. Jason."

"Nefen, but please, call me Nef."

"My name is Zach. Who can read kanji really well?"

Mina laughed nervously. "I heard this place has great..."

"Sake, dango, the likes," offered Ami. "Anything you may want to try as an authentic Japanese experience."

Her tourist guide language eases her friends and conversation goes much smoother after that, with the girls talking over each other about their experiences and the guys being entertained by Mamoru. There is sake, and there is dango, and there is the actual meal itself which Jason comments on as "kinda creepy."

Rei really does smile at that—but its not very polite. Then, very sweetly, she puts him "back into his place."

Mako knows she lost him before he does—weeks before Jason realizes it—but she can't find herself to care.

Her smile is genuine when Nefen asks her opinion.

* * *

The next time they gather, just a few days later, Usagi notices something off, so she turns to Mamoru and whispers, "They're not sitting with each other."

Mamoru shrugs.

Usagi is a little muddled, so she raises her voice and Rei snaps back and Mina makes the situation worse and Mako laughs and Ami rolls her eyes.

It's still rough around the edges—really rough—but its getting better, slowly, and the next time youma attack no one is hollering at the other and cursing.

Rei bites, but the heat never scorches the recipient. Jason runs to Japanese courses and is generally much less of an idiot around her. Ami argues and agrees. Zach hardly ever gets annoyed. Mina begins to care. Kel laughs and holds her hand. Nef finds Mako fascinating and he's more than a little nervous around her. Mako's frustration melts away.

It takes time—months, nearly years—before things begin to match up, but nobody really minds.

* * *

AN: There are no "true" names in Spanish with "K" so I randomly chose this one and I don't know which country in South America and North America Rei and Mako would be in, so I decided something like Spanish Chile and English America but if you have something different in mind I left the option open.

I kind believe Ami needs a safety net but someone who makes her see who she is, so I chose Nephrite. He's like the perfect big brother who raises her fighting spirit. I think Rei needs a big brother too, someone who shows her not all men are pigs and cares for her like a sister/cousin/really good friend. Mako may have needed a really annoying friend to push her in the right direction and keeps her guard up, so she won't be even remotely a pushover and shows her showing temper isn't an awful thing. Mina needed someone to treat like a _little_ brother who will always be there and gets upset by his big sister who also thinks she can be better and teach her responsibility.

While the Senshi were away, the Outers came in to help Usagi.

I may make this longer or something because I don't like the way its written with mistakes and all.

I believe I made Usagi a little OOC in the beginning.


End file.
